Review: Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews

Greg Gains is a misfit just trying to survive high school by having as little contact with the other students as possible. He is more or less happy being miserable and cynical and anyway, he has all of the friends he needs in Earl, a tough talking kid from the wrong side of the tracks whom he makes amateur films with. Then Greg's life takes a twist when he learns that Rachel, his childhood friend from Hebrew class has leukaemia and his mother is insisting that he go visit her. And while Greg remains, well, Greg, and he's bitter and miserable and thoroughly enjoying being bitter and miserable throughout the book, it is Rachel who can see his potential ...

Greg reminded me a lot of someone I used to know when I was roughly the same age as the characters, which helped make the novel that extra bit entertaining. (Yes real life Greg. I was laughing at you.) I found the novel to be fairly realistic, and surprisingly cynical for something that was intended for roughly the same audience as The Fault in Our Stars, but strangely enough, that was also a huge part of the appeal. I felt that Earl's character could have been better written, I neither liked him, or loved to hate him like I did Greg. On the whole though, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl was an entertaining read that never gets too bogged down in sentiment or with likeable characters.

Recommended. 

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